Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9ml
Earthquake near Gardnerville Ranchos, NV
No earthquake was likely felt in Gardnerville Ranchos in the 24 hours to 7:22 pm PST (03:22 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 30 km (18 mi) W, at 11:58 pm PDT on 2 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 85 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Gardnerville Ranchos
This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) east of Gardnerville Ranchos, NV, at 3:48 am PDT on 13 September 2021 (10:48 UTC), 3.7 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 4 km N of Carter Springs, Nevada
75 km (46 mi) SSE of Reno, NV · 30 km (19 mi) SSE of Carson, NV
- When
- 3:48 am PDT on 13 September 2021 ()
- Where
- 9 km (6 mi) east of Gardnerville Ranchos, NV · earthquakes near Gardnerville Ranchos
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 3.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Douglas County, 3 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- East Carson Valley fault, 2 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1816 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Gardnerville Ranchos, NV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Gardnerville Ranchos, NV. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Gardnerville Ranchos, 9 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Likely felt in: Gardnerville Ranchos 9 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 45× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 lb of TNT
Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 6.0 on 2021-07-08 — about 1,400,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 22 km SSE of Stagecoach, Nevada · 41 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.1 4 km S of Carter Springs, Nevada · 9 km S of this epicentre
- 5.5 California-Nevada border region · 40 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.1 10 km SE of South Lake Tahoe, California · 23 km W of this epicentre
- 5.1 8 km ESE of Mesa Vista, California · 15 km SSW of this epicentre
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 38.8985, -119.6381. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Douglas County, NV | 3 km (2 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Douglas County |
| Carson City, NV | 30 km (19 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Carson City |
| Alpine County, CA | 34 km (21 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Alpine County |
| Lyon County, NV | 41 km (25 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Lyon County |
| Storey County, NV | 61 km (38 mi) | N | earthquakes near Storey County |
| El Dorado County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | W | earthquakes near El Dorado County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 29km SE of Markleeville, CA
- 1.7 30km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 2.2 29km SE of Markleeville, CA
- 1.8 32km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 2.1 28km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.6 30km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 3.6 30km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 2.9 25km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.8 25km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.6 25km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.5 7 km W of Mesa Vista, California
- 1.5 4 km NNE of Walker, California
- 1.7 29km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.6 28km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
- 1.6 28km SSW of Smith Valley, NV
Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.